Electric smoker

ABSTRACT

An electric food smoker is disclosed that includes a smoker chamber for holding food to be smoked, a wood compartment for holding smoke producing material to generate smoke, a chamber coil in the smoker chamber to control cooking temperature, and a wood coil in the wood compartment to control temperature for generating smoke. The wood compartment is separated from the smoker chamber. The wood compartment can be located in and insulated from the smoker chamber. The wood compartment can have vents allowing smoke to exit into the smoker chamber. The wood coil can have multiple temperature settings to control the amount of smoke generated; or can have a high smoke setting for generating more smoke and a normal smoke setting for generating less smoke. The chamber coil can maintain the cooking temperature in the smoker chamber regardless of the temperature setting for the wood coil.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to smokers, and in particular to anelectric smoker where wood or other aromatic smoke is generated in achamber to flavor food being cooked in the smoker.

BACKGROUND

For many years, smokers have been used to infuse flavors into differenttypes of food. A desired flavor is usually provided for the food byburning a smoke-producing material to produce smoke in a smoker chamberwhere the food is being prepared. Examples of smoke-producing materialsinclude, but are not limited to, wood, saw dust, wood chips, woodpellets, or other material that produces a desired flavor. These areother smoke-producing materials will be referred to herein as wood. Thewood is usually in a pan inside the smoker chamber and a heating coil isused to raise the temperature of the wood thereby causing it to emitsmoke which transfers the desired flavor onto the food in the smokerchamber.

The temperature required to generate smoke from the wood is usuallyhigher and different at variable times than the desired cookingtemperature. Therefore, in the process to generate smoke, the smokerchamber cooking temperature is usually raised beyond acceptable levelsfor cooking. Generating a desired smoke level, or varying smoke levels,at acceptable cooking temperatures is nearly impossible with a singleheating source providing the heat for both smoke generation and foodcooking in the smoker chamber.

It would be desirable to have a smoker that has one heating element toheat the wood to a desired temperature, and a second heating element toprovide the desired cooking temperature for the food inside the smokerchamber. It would also be desirable to have different embodiments of thesystem that can produce a user-selectable smoke level inside the smokerchamber. These and other features of the present invention will bedescribed in the disclosure.

SUMMARY

An electric food smoker is disclosed that includes a smoker chamber, awood compartment, a chamber coil, and a wood coil. The smoker chamber isfor holding food to be smoked. The wood compartment is for holding smokeproducing material to generate smoke; and the wood compartment isseparated from the smoker chamber. The chamber coil is located in thesmoker chamber and controls cooking temperature for food in the smokerchamber. The wood coil is located in the wood compartment and controlstemperature for generating smoke. The wood compartment can be located inthe smoker chamber, and the wood compartment can be insulated from thesmoker chamber. The wood compartment can have multiple vents forallowing smoke to exit the wood compartment and enter the smokerchamber. The wood compartment can be insulated from the smoker chamberwith glass fiber cotton.

The wood coil can have multiple temperature settings to control theamount of smoke generated in the wood compartment. For example, the woodcoil can have a higher smoke setting for generating more smoke and alower smoke setting for generating less smoke. The electric food smokercan also include a control panel that has smoke setting buttons orcontrols to vary the smoke level; where selection of a higher smokesetting button sets power to the wood coil at a first power level, andselection of a lower smoke setting button sets power to the wood coil ata second power level, where the second power level is less than thefirst power level. The first power level can be about 350 Watts and thesecond power level can be about 250 Watts. The chamber coil can maintainthe cooking temperature in the smoker chamber regardless of thetemperature setting for the wood coil. The control panel can include aselection for a desired cooking temperature for the smoker chamber, andthe chamber coil can maintain the cooking temperature within plus orminus 3 degrees of the desired cooking temperature.

The electric food smoker can also include a wood tray for holding thesmoke producing material in the wood compartment, where the wood tray isloadable without exposing the smoker chamber to outside air. The woodcompartment can be attached to an outside wall of the smoker chamber,and the wood tray can be slideable in and out of the wood compartmentthrough the outside wall of the smoker chamber. The wood compartment canbe attached to two outside walls of the smoker chamber. The electricfood smoker can also include a plurality of dampers for allowing airflow in and out of the smoker chamber. The smoker chamber can include aplurality of outside walls, and the plurality of dampers can include afirst damper near the top of a first outside wall of the smoker chamber,and a second damper near the bottom of a second outside wall of thesmoker chamber, where the first outside wall is opposite of the secondoutside wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned aspects of the present disclosure and the manner ofobtaining them will become more apparent and the disclosure itself willbe better understood by reference to the following description of theembodiments of the disclosure, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an electric smoker withits door closed;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an electric smoker withits door removed;

FIG. 3 illustrates a closer view of the wood compartment from the frontof the smoker;

FIG. 4 illustrates a closer view of the wood compartment from the rightside of the smoker with the right side wall removed;

FIG. 5 illustrates a closer view of the wood compartment from the rightside of the smoker with the right side wall removed and the insulatingwalls of the wood compartment removed;

FIG. 6 illustrates a closer view of the wood compartment from the rightside of the smoker with the right side wall removed, the insulatingwalls of the wood compartment removed, and the wood tray removed; and

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a control panel for a smoker.

Corresponding reference numerals are used to indicate correspondingparts throughout the several views.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the present disclosure described below are notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the preciseforms in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments arechosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciateand understand the principles and practices of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an electric smoker 100that shows a door 102, a top wall 110, a right side wall 120 and abottom wall 112. FIG. 2 illustrates the exemplary embodiment of theelectric smoker 100 with the door 102 removed to show the smoker chamber200. FIG. 2 also shows the top wall 110, a left side wall 130. thebottom wall 112 and a rear wall 104. FIGS. 1 and 2 also show a movablelatch handle 108, a latch mechanism 106, a first damper 122, a seconddamper 132, a wood tray handle 140, a control panel 150, shelves 210, awood compartment 220 and a water pan 230.

When the door 102 is closed, the chamber 200 is enclosed by the door102, the right side wall 120, the rear wall 104, the left side wall 130,the top wall 110, and the bottom wall 112. Food can be placed on theshelves 210 in the chamber 200 to be smoked. The movable latch handle108 on the door 102 can interlock with the latch mechanism 106 on theright wall 120. The latch handle 108 can be moved to release from thelatch mechanism 106 to open the door 102 to provide access to thechamber 200. The door 102 can be closed and the latch handle 108 latchedto the latch mechanism 106 to keep the door 102 closed.

The embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 shows the first damper 122 near the topof the right side wall 120 and the second damper 132 near the bottom ofthe left side wall 130. The dampers 122, 132 can be partially or fullyopened or closed to control air flow in and out of the smoker chamber200 when the door 102 is closed. The smoker 100 can include additionaldampers, and/or the dampers can be placed at different locations tocontrol air flow in the chamber 200 of the smoker 100.

The wood compartment 220 is encased and insulated from the chamber 200.FIG. 3 shows a closer view of the wood compartment 220 from the front ofthe smoker 100, and FIG. 4 shows a closer view of the wood compartment220 from the right side of the smoker 100 with the right side wall 120removed. The wood compartment 220 is attached to the right side wall 120and the rear wall 104. The remaining sides (front, left, top and bottom)of the wood compartment 220 are enclosed by insulating walls 222. Theinsulating walls 222 of the wood compartment 220 can be insulated withan insulating material, for example glass fiber cotton, to limit theheat influence from the wood compartment 220 on the rest of the smokerchamber 200. The front and left walls 222 of the wood compartment 220have vents 224 to allow the smoke generated inside the wood compartment220 to come out into the chamber 200 where the food is located.

FIG. 5 shows a similar view to FIG. 4, except in FIG. 5 both the rightside wall 120 and the insulating walls 222 of the wood compartment 220are removed. FIGS. 4 and 5 show a wood tray 142 which is attached to thewood tray handle 140 that extends out the right side wall 120. The woodtray handle 142 can be pulled to pull the wood tray 142 out of the woodcompartment 220 through the right side wall 120 for adding wood (woodchips, pellets or other smoke-producing material). The wood tray 142 canthen be pushed back into the wood compartment 220 so the wood can beheated to produce the desired smoke. The wood tray 142 can thus bereloaded with smoke producing material without interfering with thecooking temperature in the smoker chamber 200 by exposing the smokerchamber 200 to outside air, and with only minimal interfering with thesmoke producing temperature in the wood compartment 220 by exposing thewood compartment 220 to outside air.

FIG. 6 shows a similar view to FIG. 5 with the wood tray 142 removed.FIGS. 5 and 6 show a chamber coil 510 and a wood coil 520. The wood coil520 is located in the wood compartment 220 to provide the desired heatto produce smoke from the wood in the wood tray 142. The chamber coil510 is in the smoker chamber 200 but outside of the wood compartment 200to provide the desired cooking temperature for the food on the shelves210 in the chamber 200. Both the chamber coil 510 and the wood coil 520can be mounted on the rear wall 104.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the control panel 150 that can be mountedon the top wall 110 of the smoker 100. The control panel 150 includes adisplay 152 and various control setting buttons for user selection ofsmoker control values, for example cooking temperature, time, etc. Thecontrol setting buttons include a normal smoke setting button 156 and ahigh smoke setting button 158 that control the temperature of the woodcoil 520 located in the wood compartment 220. When the normal smokesetting button 156 is selected the wood coil is set to a lowertemperature and when the high smoke setting button 158 is selected thewood coil is set to a higher temperature. The wood in the wood tray 142in the wood compartment 220 will produce less smoke at the lowertemperature and more smoke at the higher temperature. The high smokesetting button 158 can select or cancel the high smoke mode, and thenormal smoke setting button 156 can select or cancel the normal smokemode.

The smoker 100 has a smoker chamber 200 for smoking different types offood products on the shelves 210, with a separate, insulated woodburning compartment 220 within the chamber 200. A chamber coil 510controls the cooking temperature for the food on the shelves 210 in thechamber 200, and a separate wood coil 520 in the insulated woodcompartment 220 controls the temperature for generating smoke from thewood in the wood compartment 220. One or more temperaturesensor(s)/probe(s) 240 can be used to monitor the cooking temperature inthe smoker chamber 200. Vents in the separate wood compartment 220 allowthe generated smoke to come out of the wood compartment 220 and fill thechamber 200, while the insulated walls 222 of the wood compartment 220reduce the impact of the higher temperature interior of the woodcompartment 220 on the rest of the chamber 200.

In some embodiments, the user can select between multiple smoke levelsranging from a higher smoke level to a lower smoke level. The smoker canhave “High Smoke” and “Normal Smoke” selectors/buttons, where one or theother or neither can be activated. Alternatively, the smoker can have aselector dial for continuous selectivity, or multiple buttons fordiscrete selectivity, of various smoke levels depending on theirpreference on the amount of smoke intended to be impacted on the foodproduct. The higher or lower smoke levels operate at different heatlevels of the wood coil 520 in the wood compartment 220. In conventionalsmokers where the heat source to control smoke level is not insulatedfrom, or is the same as, the heat source to control cooking temperature,it is very difficult if not impossible to control both the smoke leveland cooking temperature. The separate, insulated wood compartment 220with its own wood coil 520 allows the user to control the amount ofsmoke generated for the smoker chamber 200, while the chamber coil 510maintains a tight cooking temperature range, for example +/−3 degreesFahrenheit. The higher and lower smoke level options have a flavoringeffect on the food. The wood heating coil 520 can be encased, insulated,and separated in a way as to contain the heat emanating from the woodheating coil 520 from affecting the temperature in the food cookingchamber 200. The wood smoking compartment 220 can be insulated from thechamber 200 with various insulating materials, for example glass fibercotton. The wood smoking compartment 220 can also have several holes orvents 224 for smoke to go through and enter the food cooking chamber200.

The wood or chip coil 520 is insulated in the wood smoking compartment220. An exemplary power range for the chip coil 520 is between 250 Watts(W) and 350 W. Other power ranges can be used for the chip coil 520depending on the size of the wood compartment 220, distance from thewood in the wood tray 142, type of material (wood pieces, chips,pellets, sawdust, etc.) in the wood tray 142, and various otherparameters. The chip heating coil 520 can be adjustable throughout itspower range or can have some preset values within the range. In a highand low smoke level embodiment, for example, the high smoke button 158can set the chip coil 520 to operate at about 350 W, and the normalsmoke button 156 can set the chip coil 520 to operate at about 250 W.Other chip coil temperature settings can be preselected or selectable bythe user.

Having the chip coil 520 encased in the wood compartment 220 not onlyhelps in allowing separate smoke generation and cooking temperaturecontrol, but also helps to accumulate the heat in the smaller woodcompartment 220 to aid in more efficient smoke generation andmaintenance. The exemplary 250 W to 350 W power range for the wood coil520 can be sufficient for generating smoke efficiently at lowertemperatures in the smaller wood compartment 220, but may beinsufficient for smoke generation in traditional smokers where the woodis in the larger food cooking area.

The chamber coil 510 is exposed in the smoker chamber 200 to control,adjust and maintain the cooking temperature in the smoker chamber 200.The temperature sensor(s) 240 can monitor the cooking temperature in thesmoker chamber 200. An exemplary power range for the chamber coil 510 isfrom 800 W to 1400 W, and alternative power ranges can be used. Thesmoker 100 can be programmed to control power to the chamber coil 510,and hence coil temperature, to achieve and maintain the desiredtemperature setting in the smoker chamber 200 as reported by thetemperature sensor(s) 240 within a relatively tight temperature range,for example ±3 degrees F. A programmable printed circuit board systemcan control and manage power to the chamber coil 510 to maintain thedesired temperature in the smoker chamber 200. An example of powerranges using the 800 W to 1400 W embodiment can be:

Chamber Temperature Range Chamber Coil Power 140 F. (60 C.)-180 F. (82C.) 200 W 181 F. (83 C.)-210 F. (99 C.) 400 W 211 F. (100 F.)-230 F.(110 C.) 800 W 231 F. (111 C.)-300 F. (149 C.) 1400 W 

The chamber and wood heating coils 510, 520 can either or both beprogrammed to cycle On/Off for a certain time duration, for example 4minutes. This can help to control the smoke generation level and alsoprolong the wood burning life. When the desired level of smoke isreached, the wood heating coil 520 can be turned off and back on againper tested cycles to maintain the desired level of smoke.

While the disclosure has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description isto be considered as exemplary and not restrictive in character, it beingunderstood that illustrative embodiment(s) have been shown and describedand that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit ofthe disclosure are desired to be protected. It will be noted thatalternative embodiments of the present disclosure may not include all ofthe features described yet still benefit from at least some of theadvantages of such features. Those of ordinary skill in the art mayreadily devise their own implementations that incorporate one or more ofthe features of the present disclosure and fall within the spirit andscope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. An electric food smoker comprising: a smoker chamber forholding food to be smoked; a wood compartment for holding smokeproducing material to generate smoke; the wood compartment beingseparated from the smoker chamber; a chamber coil located in the smokerchamber to control cooking temperature for food in the smoker chamber;and a wood coil located in the wood compartment to control temperaturefor generating smoke; wherein the wood compartment is located in thesmoker chamber, and the wood compartment is insulated from the smokerchamber.
 2. The electric food smoker of claim 1, wherein the woodcompartment has multiple vents for allowing smoke to exit the woodcompartment and enter the smoker chamber.
 3. The electric food smoker ofclaim 2, wherein the wood compartment insulated from the smoker chamberwith glass fiber cotton.
 4. The electric food smoker of claim 2, furthercomprising a plurality of dampers for allowing air flow in and out ofthe smoker chamber.
 5. The electric food smoker of claim 2, furthercomprising a wood tray for holding the smoke producing material in thewood compartment, the wood tray being loadable without exposing thesmoker chamber to outside air.
 6. The electric food smoker of claim 5,wherein the wood compartment is attached to an outside wall of thesmoker chamber, and the wood tray is slideable in and out of the woodcompartment through the outside wall of the smoker chamber.
 7. Theelectric food smoker of claim 2, wherein the wood compartment isattached to two outside walls of the smoker chamber.
 8. The electricfood smoker of claim 2, wherein the wood coil has multiple temperaturesettings to control the amount of smoke generated in the woodcompartment.
 9. The electric food smoker of claim 8, further comprisinga plurality of dampers for allowing air flow in and out of the smokerchamber.
 10. The electric food smoker of claim 8, further comprising awood tray for holding the smoke producing material in the woodcompartment, the wood tray being loadable without exposing the smokerchamber to outside air.
 11. The electric food smoker of claim 10,wherein the wood compartment is attached to an outside wall of thesmoker chamber, and the wood tray is slideable in and out of the woodcompartment through the outside wall of the smoker chamber.
 12. Theelectric food smoker of claim 8, wherein the wood coil has multiplesettings including a higher smoke setting for generating more smoke anda lower smoke setting for generating less smoke.
 13. The electric foodsmoker of claim 12, further comprising a control panel having a highsmoke setting button and a normal smoke setting button; whereinselection of the high smoke setting button sets power to the wood coilat a first power level, and selection of the normal smoke setting buttonsets power to the wood coil at a second power level, the second powerlevel being less than the first power level.
 14. The electric foodsmoker of claim 13, wherein the first power level is about 350 Watts andthe second power level is about 250 Watts.
 15. The electric food smokerof claim 8, wherein the chamber coil maintains the cooking temperaturein the smoker chamber regardless of the temperature setting for the woodcoil.
 16. The electric food smoker of claim 15, further comprising acontrol panel for selecting a desired cooking temperature for the smokerchamber, and wherein the chamber coil maintains the cooking temperaturewithin plus or minus 3 degrees of the desired cooking temperature. 17.The electric food smoker of claim 15, further comprising a plurality ofdampers for allowing air flow in and out of the smoker chamber, andwherein the smoker chamber includes a plurality of outside walls, andthe plurality of dampers include a first damper near the top of a firstoutside wall of the smoker chamber, and a second damper near the bottomof a second outside wall of the smoker chamber, the first outside wallbeing opposite of the second outside wall.
 18. The electric food smokerof claim 15, further comprising a wood tray for holding the smokeproducing material in the wood compartment, the wood tray being loadablewithout exposing the smoker chamber to outside air.
 19. The electricfood smoker of claim 18, wherein the wood compartment is attached to anoutside wall of the smoker chamber, and the wood tray is slideable inand out of the wood compartment through the outside wall of the smokerchamber.